Post-Election Selection Trauma

There are a lot of Kerry supporters who were majorly stunned by the election result. I can tell you that here at the University of Tennessee's Hodges Library (which during the campaign I referred to as "Kerry Country", the days after the election did not show many happy faces. Apparently it was so bad that some people in Florida are seeking therapy to fight the "trauma" they have experienced. Seeing the people's reactions around here (and this is in a state that everyone new was going to vote Bush, but still hoped the nation would choose "correctly") I can believe that people in Floriday are seeking help and (I AM NOT JOKING HERE) really might need help.

There was the impression here that Kerrey would win (I'll admit I thought he would) and an honest shock (I was not shocked, but pleased). Something else that was weird was how deep some of the people were biting into the "Bush and the Draft" spin, "Bush is a dumb person" spin, and the "Cheney's ex-company profiteering" spin. The draft and the dumb thing puzzle me because these are intelligent people, but it's like they threw up a mental block. The draft was an obvious political lie put out by the democrats and meant to spread misinformation. I don't approve of it, but that is part of politics today. The dumb thing I could kind of get my mind around because of the urge to mock the opponent, but it seemed to go farther than that in many of the peoples minds around here, and I am having more of a problem understanding that.

There was also a lot of dissatisfaction with the "no child left behind is a terrible program" which isn't quite a spin as much as a dislike of a program (although no alternative program seemed to ever be presented by those with this attitude).

Noticeably missing was the "I like Kerry's idea of changing ...." or" I think Kerry's idea of fixing ..." thoughts which you would think would be present in the candidate you support. This of course, supporting the already mentioned notion that people were voting against Bush, not for Kerry.


Check out this site for the therapy articl. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1275260/posts. The article seems good but the peoples comments at the end are predictable. For the short and sweet report: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/afp/20041109/ts_alt_afp/us_vote_kerry_offbeat I actually first heard it on one of the television news programs but I can't remember which.

Also check out the "4th Presidential Debate skit" on http://www.capsteps.com/ . Ammusing even if no longer relevant.